Choices
by g for gnome
Summary: Our lives are full of choices, some for the better, and some for the worst. I was given a choice, and only now do I regret making that choice. Elle never knew how much Emmett meant to her, until she made a choice that would change her views on everything she knew. Rated K plus just in case
1. Chapter 1

Professor Callahan smiled at me, I smiled back, next thing I know he cupped my face with his hand and was kissing me. I tried to pull away, but he was too strong. I used all my strength and push him away. He didn't move, but I stumbled off the edge of the table and collapsed onto the floor. I faced down at my hands as I heard his voice. "You're stronger than you seem, Miss Woods." I had only just taken in what had happened, the events of the last few days played in my mind.  
"Is this the only reason you gave me the internship?" I asked, Callahan didn't answer the question, which confirmed it. I heard his footsteps walking over to me.  
"Now listen here" he told me, grabbing the roots of hair at the back of my neck, pulling my head to face him. "You're nothing, but an unintelligent, idiotic girl, and that's all you'll ever be, and all anyone will see." his words were sharper than knives, but the mental scars they left explained so much. What was I trying to prove? And who to? Warner had Vivienne and I'm sure Emmett could do better than me, and would be better without me.

Callahan let go of my hair and let me fall. I got up onto my knees, I felt as though I would cry, but how could I? It felt wrong, but to think that man got his lips anywhere near me was reason enough. No. I wouldn't cry, not now. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me to my feet, then took hold of my other wrist. "Listen to me you." he said, ordering my attention. I looked to the floor beside me, avoiding his eyes. He let go of one of my wrists and used it to force me to look at him. He then replaced his hand on the wrist it had left, ensuring I wouldn't get away. "You'll tell no-one of this. You just smile and look pretty." he told me. "Is that easy enough to do?" his voice was low. I just looked at him, with no expression, but the hidden hate in my eyes. "Of course it is." he answered his own question. Throwing me on the floor he began walking to the door. He stopped before he opened it, turned at the last minute, I didn't make eye contact. "After all, what else can you do?" he asked, "Without risking the future of your precious love, Emmett." how did he know about Emmett and me? I had never told anyone about that. "Oh yes I know." he had noticed my shocked expression. "No worries. You'll come to agree in the end." his last words were death to my ears, they hurt worse than the kiss. He finally left after that. I was happy to be alone at that moment.

After a few minutes I heard footsteps outside the door. I hastily got up and dusted myself off, wiping my lips to make sure that there was no proof that anyone had kissed me. I walked to the door, but before I could open it I heard the hinges click. It was Warner. He walked in, followed by Vivienne. I had to turn away, already I knew that what he had to say wouldn't be good.  
"Well hello Marilyn." he greeted in a mocking tone. His nickname for me confirmed that he had seen Callahan kiss me. "Looks like you'll make partner now. You've really... earned it." I didn't know who's words hurt more; his or Callahan's. I was surprised to hear what Vivienne had to say.  
"Warner." she addressed, "Shut up!" her words were short and hard. I heard the man behind me move away, and walk out the door. I looked over my shoulder at the woman, she gazed back with hard sympathetic eyes. She seemed to have a better understanding at how I had been used and violated than Warner ever would. She didn't say anything, and soon ran after her fiancé, leaving me alone again.

The door was shut once more. I turned to face it, I heard no footsteps this time and felt it safe to leave. As I touched to handle I heard the familiar sound of the hinges. I let it open, it was probably just Warner back to mock me again. My breath almost stopped when I saw Emmett at the door. I had to turn away, I couldn't bear to look him in the face, it burnt my heart to see the smile on his face.  
"There she is." he said joyfully, "Intern of the year." what had I done to be 'intern of the year'?  
"Hi Emmett." I covered my shaking voice with a friendly tone. He knew me too well, and noticed that I was trying to hide something.  
"What's wrong?" he asked. I told him nothing was wrong. My neck was beginning to hurt from where Callahan had pulled my hair. Stupidly I clasped it to try and stop the pain. "What is it?"  
"Nothing." I told him hopelessly, when he began to approach me to take a look I stepped back slightly "Emmett I'm fine!" my voice was demanding, too demanding. I turned away from him. It gave me away completely, but I couldn't tell him, for his own safety. He stopped, not seeming to have any plans of advancing or retreating any more.  
"Elle." his voice was soft, but it hurt to hear.  
"I'm fine." I said, trying to convince myself more than anyone else. He walked over to me and lightly placed his hands on my arms. I turned to look him in the eye, Callahan's words lingering in my mind; _just smile and look pretty._ As much as I hated it, it was all I could do. I smiled at him to try and convince him that I was telling the truth. After some time he seemed to believe me. He hugged me close and then held my hand as we left the court room to darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

It was early morning of the 4th day of Brook's trial. I didn't want to go; I couldn't show my face in that court room again, not after the events of the last night. I heard a light knock on my door. Who else would be up at this ridiculous hour, I was only awake because guilt wouldn't let me rest.  
"Elle." I heard outside. Who was it? "Elle, can I come in?"  
"Vivienne? What do you want?" I asked. " If you're here to mock me about what happened then-"  
"It's not about that." she cut off. "Well it is, but it's not to mock you." reassurance hung in her voice. "Look, if I offend you in any way, you can..." she struggled to think of an idea, "give me a makeover." I had to laugh at that, the thought of Vivienne having a Malibu makeover was an amusing thought. "Please let me in." The pleading tone in her voice seemed genuine. I wandered over to the door, flipping the latch to unlock it. She walked in and closed the door behind her. "Well hello kitty." she said, only just taking in the pinkness of my room.  
"Thanks." she hadn't realised how careful she had to be with her words while around me. After what Callahan did it seemed that everything I had ever been was wrong. I could tell she was deeply sorry.  
"Listen Elle." she said sitting beside me on the bed, placing her hand on mine where they rested in my lap. "I can't say I know how you feel, because I would be lying," this lecture wasn't off to a good start, I just hoped it finished better, "but I can assure you that we have all had our share of assholes in our lives." it was shocking to hear her use the word 'asshole' so fluently, to me that language always seemed alien around her. Vivienne moved her hands to lightly rest them on my shoulders, "I guess you've just had a few more than average." was this her idea of helping? Because it wasn't working too well.  
"Vivienne." I broke in before she could continue, "I get that you're trying to help and all, but I need someone who understands." She tried not to take too much offence at what I had said. "I need time before I can talk about this. I'm still trying to get over it."  
"What about the trial?" she asked. "What about Brook?" These two questions confirmed that neither her, nor Warner saw anything after Callahan kissed me. I couldn't be sure if this was a good thing or not.  
"I'll continue with the case, but it's doubtful, we'll win."

The court was "now in session" as the judge clearly stated, and the case continued. The first witness was Mr Windom's daughter, I think her name was Chutney, I wasn't listening. Callahan began to question her, asking her relation to the deceased and if she saw anything suspicious going on before the murder took place. It was only when he asked about the events of the day did I begin to become suspicious of the woman in the witness box.  
"I had just been to the salon to get my perm done." it looked true enough; her hair looked like an explosion in a mattress factory. "And when I got in I went to have a shower." that was one of the strangest things I had ever heard anyone say. You couldn't wash a perm within 48 hours of having it done because it would go flat otherwise. I stood up at this point and without permission asked "Was this your first perm?" Callahan gave me a hard glare that reminded me what he had said; _just keep quiet and look pretty_.  
I sat down, but Miss Windom still answered my question. "No. Of course not. I've permed my hair since Junior High. About 3 a year." then surely she would understand that water deactivates the perms ammonium Thioglycolate and completely ruins it. It's the cardinal rule of perm maintenance, how could she not know this? This confused me, but as the trial droned on I began to play with these words in my mind. If Miss Windom knew about the rule then surely she must not have had the shower, and this means that she would have been lying. She would have lied about having a shower and hearing the gunshot. Since there was only her, her father and Brook in the house, as far as I was aware, there was only four possibilities, three of which were guess work with no proof and reason. I knew Brook didn't do it because of the alibi she gave me, which I hadn't told anyone. I was pretty sure that Mr Windom hadn't shot himself in an act of suicide. And no neighbour could have done it because there were no cracks in the window. Which left one possibility. Professor Callahan was asking all the wrong questions. We shouldn't ask for a testimony from the witness (well we should, but it needs to be cross examined), or ask for reasons why they would kill the deceased. We needed to take the first testimony and analyze it thoroughly.

I hadn't realised how much time I had taken to think this through. They were about to dismiss Chutney. I had to do something, I asked myself what I was thinking, but as usual my mouth got there before my head. I stood up again thinking 'Screw what Callahan says' and shouted "She's guilty!" If you've ever had the feeling that you have an inner voice in your head you can probably guess what mine was thinking when the whole court was staring at me with hard stares of confusion and annoyance.  
"Miss Woods sit down!" Callahan shouted at me, giving me the same look as earlier. I did so, but not before I got the judges attention.  
"Miss Woods." she addressed. "Is there any reason for this outburst of accusion?" Callahan's stare was hard and cold.  
"N- no your Honour- sorry, I apologise." I stuttered.  
"Accepted. I understand your concern for your client's freedom, but another incident like that and you shall be removed." she threatened. I nodded in understanding.

I continued the rest of the court session just thinking on subjects unrelated to the case. Malibu, Delta Nu, my friends, Nikos Argitakos and his boyfriend, Paulette, you name it. Anything, but the current event. It was only when I heard the mallet slam did I snap out of my daze. I thought I could have died when the judge pleaded 'Guilty' to Brooke. Life imprisonment? She wasn't going to last. I started running through the chain of things I could have done: ignored Callahan's warning for start, explained why I thought Miss Chutney was guilty, and told Brooke's alibi (I know it would have wrecked her, but at least she wouldn't go to jail with Life). I couldn't do anything now, what's done is done. They took her away in handcuffs, something I wish I hadn't seen, because Brooke gave me a killer stare, implying the statement 'you promised you'd help'.  
"Elle what happened in there?" Emmett asked when we were outside the court room.  
"Yes Miss Woods." Callahan joined us, "That's something I'm sure we'd all like to know." he wasn't going to do anything while Emmett was around, something I was quite glad about.  
"Something just came over me. That's all." I gave a hard stare to the Professor, matching his earlier ones.  
"Well it lost us the case." Warner accused. "Congratulations Marilyn." That was it, I wasn't settling for his arrogance anymore.  
"Hey! We were losing anyway! What I said or did didn't change anything! So quit accusing me just because Vivienne dumped you!" Silence. I knew Warner couldn't do anything, he couldn't say a word against Callahan, due to him having complete control over the interns, and could wreck his future in just two words. Viv just stood there in complete shock that I would even voice it. I hadn't realised that there was one thing he could do that didn't involve Callahan. Make my life hell. This was going to be a fun year.


	3. Chapter 3

There was no point of still being at Harvard. So why did I go back after summer? I avoided most of the people that I used to talk to every day. I changed classes so I wasn't with Emmett in anything except debating, but I was always paired with Enid for that. Warner was in most of my classes unfortunately and was always sending notes and gestures to remind me that it only took one person to spread a rumour. And a rumour about the Malibu blonde was sure to spread fast. Despite people getting to know me and knowing that most of the rumours about me weren't true, people still opted for idol gossip. Every so often Vivienne would visit me in my room to see how I was coping, but I always tried to avoid it and instead be out studying or just be somewhere where no one would find me. Obviously I couldn't hide every time and she almost always had the patience to wait till I was back for sure, since she always done her homework without effort.

I was out on the grass one day, reading over a testimony we had been given to study, again, when I felt a hard hand on my shoulder. I froze. What would Warner want me to do in my attempts to keep my secret? "You can't hide from me forever, Elle."

"Emmett?" I turned to see the face I had tried so hard to avoid. "I'm trying to study."

"No you're not," he laughed, and sat down beside me, "you've been reading that testimony for 2 hours. You honestly expect me to believe you don't know it full out and have picked out every detail wrong with it?" I hated when he did this. "You're a smart girl Elle, we both know that. So what's wrong?" for his own safety I couldn't tell him. Callahan, while I no longer had him as a teacher, had such a huge hold over me. I told him nothing was wrong, but he didn't believe me. "Elle, what aren't you telling me? What's happened?" so much, but so little, I thought. If I could tell him even the tiniest detail of what happened that day I would.

"Ask Warner." Really? That was the best I could do? What was Emmett going to think?

"What's that straight coated bastard done now? If he even laid a finger on you I swear I'll break his-!"

"Emmett." I cut him off, "He hasn't done anything." I reassured him. He was sceptical for a moment, but reading the expression on my face told him that some part of me was telling the truth.

For the rest of the day I worried and worried about what Warner would say to Emmett. Would he tell him what I had done? Only time would tell.

Days grew into weeks, and weeks into months. It had been 3 months now since Brook's trial. Yet I still seemed to remember it as if it only happened yesterday. What had Warner told Emmett? Sure enough I was soon to find out, very late. And when I did, it seemed that it had come all too soon, and not from who I expected.

I was in my room on my bed, just staring at the ceiling when I heard two heavy bangs on the door. I snapped out of my daze. "Who is it?" I asked, curious and worried at the same time. No answer. I slowly made my way over to the door. My hand hovered over the handle deciphering whether or not to open it. In the end I decided it was probably best to. "Vivienne?" a rush of dark hair hurried past me in an angry manner and sat itself stiffly on the bed. "Vivienne, what is it?" I felt like Emmett, asking these questions. She stared at me intently. Unmoving, unflinching. Just sitting.

"You know, I really thought you could trust me, Elle," she said sharply. "But obviously you're too much of an idiot to tell me anything anymore!" what had made her so angry?

"Viv, what have I done?"

"Why didn't you tell me you were going out with Warner? Last time I checked you hated him. Now you're his arm candy? What's wrong with you Elle? Are you delusional or just plain blind? He's just gonna use you, like he did before!" I was both shocked and disgusted at what I had just heard. "Emmett doesn't know what to think. He's thinking of transferring to another school. He can't bear to look at you, and to be honest neither can I!" her arms were folded, not tense, but each hand was gripping the opposite elbow. I didn't want to go near her, but I was worried.

"Vivienne who told you this? Cause if it was Warner surely you should know he would-"

"It was Emmett." She said, looking up at me with a straight gaze. "Emmett told me." For once it seemed that Vivienne looked almost...upset. Why would Warner do this? What does he gain from spreading a rumour that I'm going out with him? On the contrary, what would he lose? And how could he have possibly convinced Emmett? He's far too smart to be tricked into believing this stupid idiocy. But I was to find out that, how he did it, and why he did it, were nothing compared to what was to come over the next few weeks.

People were looking at me differently. People I didn't even know. I heard Enid talking to her lesbian mate as I walked down the hall.

"Personally I think she should turn. I mean it's Warner. He could turn any girl gay!" the laughter stung a bit, but I was used to it from when I first joined Harvard. I always seemed to hear talking on every corner, down every corridor, and in every classroom. One girl, who I'm guessing was a first year, came up to me outside the school and asked if I thought Warner was 'cute', and I thought I was going to gag right there, but there was only so much you could say.

"Well, I guess so." Come on, I could do better. "But between you and me, he could shave the stubble." I whispered. She giggled and ran off, supposedly to tell her stupid first year friends that I was going out with the bastard of the school. I was shocked when I saw her walking back round the corner with her arm wrapped around Warner.

"So you do think I'm good looking then?" he asked with a smug grin spread across his face. My fists clenched, surely a quick punch should wipe that clean off, and hopefully knock out one or two of those too perfectly white teeth. "Are you ok Elle?" he said mockingly, "You look a bit tense."

"So would you be if you'd just found out you were dating a person you despise!" I said in a hushed tone just loud enough for him to here. The grin still held, which aggravated me all the more and I felt like my brain was going to burst due to the blood rushing to it in my rage. "Could you explain to me why there is a spread going round that I'm your new arm candy, when you clearly have someone who isn't me and looks nothing like me." I gestured to the girl attached to his arm, he laughed.

"Katy, go talk to your friends and let me deal with this. You know I told you not to get involved in my business when you got here." He told her.

"Jesus Warner, I'm not 12 anymore. I can do what I like." He glared at her intently. "Alright, alright. But can you at least give me a bit of leeway on eavesdropping on Vivienne once or twice?"

"You do that anyway, so what's the point on giving you permission? Now bugger off and let me talk to my girlfriend alone!" the girl once again disappeared around the corner, this time mumbling to herself in annoyed tones. Warner turned back to face me, "What would you rather have circulating around? That the Malibu Blonde is dating Warner Hunnington III? Or that that she got off with Professor Callahan to get an internship?" he had me, but what was he going to do with his power over me? I feared to think the worse. "And I'm sure you're wondering how I convinced your major crush, Emmett." I nodded, even though I didn't want to admit it. "Well to be honest, he is such a div sometimes. His self-esteem and confidence are way too low for Harvard material. I mean he's all wrong for you. I had to tell him the truth."

"You told him that I didn't love him and that you could offer me more in a relationship." I felt disgusted just saying it; the mental image was too much for me.

"Wow, that's impressive for a Delta Nu Malibu." He laughed at his fitting rhyme, "but you're only half way my darling." asking him the other half was useless. "If I told you that, the game would be over and the fun would end. Now where's the point in that? Now come along, gather your books up. We have evidence next."


End file.
